Ribfest loses an estimated $20,000 after weather evacuation

KALAMAZOO, MI – Event
organizers are hoping to break even on this year's Ribfest after losing
thousands of dollars in admission fees because of a weather evacuation Saturday
night.

A severe weather warning caused Kalamazoo safety officials
and event organizers to evacuate the festival for roughly an hour, costing
the festival about $20,000 in lost admission fees.

The festival was closed from about 7 p.m. to 8:15 p.m. Although
the predicted severe rain and lightning never came, many of the late night
attendees never came either, event director Deborah Droppers said.

Because it rained so little, the festival was not able to
collect $80,000 in weather insurance, Droppers said. Rain accumulation was 18/100ths of an inch shy of the
quarter-inch minimum to collect the money, she said.

The festival was shut down before the expected storm under a
new advanced evacuation policy for downtown events in response to severe storms
that rained out Greek Fest and Taste of Kalamazoo in 2011.

Although it was a false alarm, Droppers said fire marshals and event staff took necessary measures to keep festival goers safe.